An article written by Bisk College of Business associate professor Angel Otero on the use of artificial intelligence (AI) in financial statement audits was featured in The CPA Journal, the internationally recognized, refereed publication for accounting practitioners, educators and other financial professionals.
“Evaluating the Use of AI in Financial Statement Audits: Factors for External and Internal Auditors to Consider” focuses on the use of AI, and particularly generative AI tools such as ChatGPT, in financial statement audits. Otero, whose scholarship is often focused on accounting information systems, discusses how external and internal auditors can use AI to analyze large volumes of financial data, identify patterns and anomalies, improve audit efficiency, perform predictive analyses and reduce the time and cost of certain audit procedures.
The article also highlights several risks auditors should evaluate when using AI, including data security and privacy, bias in training data, changing regulatory requirements and AI’s inability to independently verify the accuracy and integrity of source information. A key takeaway is that while AI can be a valuable audit tool, it does not replace the experience, oversight and professional judgment of the auditor.
The CPA Journal is a publication of the New York State Society of CPAs.
